Abnormal Psychology
Phase 1: Introduction
Source: Barlow, Durand & Hofmann (2018), Comer & Comer (2017), DSM-V, DSM-V-TR
undetectable fluid found in all living organisms
called animal magnetism Jean-Martin Charcot
o – demonstrated some techniques of mesmerism
were effective with a number of psychological
disorders, and he did much to legitimize the
fledgling practice of hypnosis
o Freud partnered with Josef Breuer to
experiment different hypnotic procedure and
discovered “Unconscious” mind
o Catharsis – release of emotional material
o Structure of Mind:
▪ society and culture that is stored deep in
Id - pleasure
▪ Ego - reality
Superego – morality
▪ generation to generation
o Defense Mechanisms – unconscious protective
processes that keep primitive emotions
associated with conflicts in check so that the
ego can continue its coordinating function
o Psychosocial Stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic,
o Latency, Genitals
o Fixation – if we did not receive appropriate
o gratification during a specific stage
Castration Anxiety – fear of losing penis
Oedipus Complex – battle of lustful impulses
towards his mother and castration anxiety on
other
o Electra Complex – young girl wanting to
replace her mother and possess her father
(penis envy)
o Neuroses – disorders of the nervous systems
o Anna Freud – Ego Psychology (defensive
reactions of ego, determines our behavior)
o Heinz Kohut – focused on a theory of formation of
self-concept and the crucial attributes of the self
that allow individual to progress toward health
(Self-Psychology)
o Object Relations – study of how children
incorporate the images, the memories, and
sometimes the values of a person who was
important to them (introjection)
Carl
o Jung – introduced the concept of collective
unconscious, which is wisdom accumulated by
individual memories and passed down from
o Alfred Adler – created the term Inferiority
Complex Free Association – patients are
o instructed to say whatever comes to mind
without the usual socially required censoring
o Dream Analysis – therapist interprets the
content of dreams
o Transference – patients come to relate to the
therapist much as they did to important figures in
their childhood
o Countertransference – therapist project some of
their own personal issues and feelings, usually
positive, onto the patient
Humanistic
o Self-Actualizing – highest potential, in all areas
of functioning
o Abraham Maslow – postulated Hierarchy of
Needs
o Carl Rogers – originated Person-Centered
Therapy
o Unconditional Positive Regard – the complete
and almost unqualified acceptance of most of the
client’s feelings and actions
o Empathy – sympathetic understanding of the
individual’s particular view of the world
o Thomas Szasz – societies invented the concept of
mental illness so that they can control people
whose unusual patterns of functioning upset or
threaten social order
o Joseph Wolpe – Systematic Desensitization
o Hans Selye – developed General Adaptation
Syndrome (GAS)
▪
three-stage process that describes the
physiological changes the body goes
through when under stress